Protect crape myrtles by delaying pruning

December 7, 2013|Tom MacCubbin, IN THE GARDEN

Question: I have a number of crape myrtles that some say should be pruned now. Others say this is not good for the plants. Who is right?

Answer: It's good to let the crape myrtles go dormant during the fall and early-winter months. If they receive major pruning, new growth may follow that is susceptible to cold damage. In severely cold years, actively growing crape myrtles have been frozen to the ground. So let's delay the pruning until late January or early February. Then only remove the old seed heads, shoots from the base and thin and entangled shoots to keep the plants looking their best.

Q. I found a seed inside a navel I was eating. I understood they do not have seeds. I planted the seed and now have a small tree. Is this something unusual?

A. Almost seedless is the best way to describe the navel fruits. Legally, a citrus fruit can have zero to six seeds and be marketed as seedless, which is the case for the navel, Hamlin and Valencia oranges, some mandarins and a few grapefruits. If the seeds they produce are plump, they are likely to grow a tree when planted. You may grow a tree similar to the parent but expect it to be taller, thornier and take about 10 years to begin production.

Q. When my homegrown tomatoes sit on the kitchen windowsill, they often start to rot and produce a relatively clear liquid. What can I do?

A. One little hole, a few fruit-fly eggs or a blemish from a disease is all it takes to get the windowsill rot started. If it makes you feel any better, we all have stinky, rotting tomatoes from time to time.

Help reduce the rot by washing the fruits when they are brought into the home to remove insect eggs and debris. Fruit-fly eggs are normally white, small and laid in wounds or cracks at the top of the fruits. Make sure the fruits are dry and especially the stem-end tops where moisture can accumulate. Check the fruits daily and use the ones with signs of damage or decline first.

Q. I am looking for a tree with pink flowers in the spring. A tree that grows to about the size of an orange tree is best. What do you suggest?

A. Create a spectacular display of pink blooms by planting a tabebuia tree. Make sure you get the pink species, as the tree also comes in brilliant yellow-flowered selections. Flowering is during the winter and early spring months from a tree that can grow 35 feet tall and wide.

Another selection with good early-spring color is the native red bud, which really has more pinkish blooms. The blossoms are much less obvious than those of the tabebuia, but the tree still makes a colorful display. Red-bud trees grow to about 15 feet tall and wide.

Q. Our yard has become a mixture of bahiagrass and weeds. Is it too late to fertilize the lawn?

A. Feeding time is over for bahia lawns, as this grass stops growing to become what we call dormant during the short, cooler days of late fall and winter. The turf should continue to have a somewhat green look until a frost or freeze, but there is little growth. If you need to fill in bare spots, you can add patches of sod or over seed with ryegrass to give some winter green.

You may want to concentrate on controlling the winter weeds that could blanket a weak lawn during the cooler months. Select a herbicide for a bahia lawn and treat the weedy areas as instructed on the label. It's important to get the weeds under control so the grass can resume normal growth when warmer weather arrives in late February or March.

Q. I have a 12-foot tall hedge of ligustrums I would like to trim to 4 feet and keep smaller. What time of the year would be best and what is my chance for success?

A. Healthy ligustrums are durable plants used as hedges, view barriers and trees. A hard pruning may ruin the looks of the planting for a while, but you can expect them all to survive. Perhaps the best time to perform the severe cutback is early- to mid-February as the ligustrums begin spring growth. Keep the soil moist and as new shoots form, provide a feeding to encourage growth. You should be able to establish a dense 4-to-6-foot tall hedge with good care and repeat prunings.